Tiki-Toki Timelines in 6th Grade English

Web 2.0 tools have been transforming the way students learn for some time now. Each new developed product brings with it the opportunity for children to experience traditional academics in a blended learning environment.  Tiki-Toki is web based software for creating interactive timelines that you can share on the internet. Middle School Head,  Ken Rogers, is using this powerful new tool with his 6th grade students in their annual Author Study. Mary Fraser, Middle School librarian has been at the forefront of introducing these tools to the faculty and students. She has this to say about Tiki-Toki.

"Tiki Toki changes the creation of historical timelines because it handles the mechanics of timeline construction using a behind-the-scenes wysiwyg editor, allowing the teaching emphasis to be on the selection of the content students want to include in their timelines. The teaching of the how-to of this web 2.0 tool is literally about 20 minutes. Therefore energy and time can be spent on researching, evaluating & selecting dates and events for the timeline, and also on analyzing the events selected and explaining why they are important to the subject of the timeline and worthy of representation.  Tiki Toki also beautifully integrates the use of graphics into the construction of the timeline, which in an aesthetic based world is important, satisfying and fun!  Students are challenged to select images that work together to create a visual representation of their subject, as well as bringing in dates, facts, events and analysis to create a written record of their subject.  Sharing their creations with each other and constructing a gallery of timelines  within their VLE course pages is also extremely simple with this tool, as each timeline can be shared via a static web address through the Tiki Toki site.  The end result for students is a thoughtfully constructed, visually appealing product that reflects their newly acquired knowledge of their subject.   The project itself becomes a teaching tool to be shared with others, and an end-product to be proud of!"